Who is Manny Pangilinan? Rafe Bartholomew of Grantland and author of Pacific Rims, a book on the history of the Philippines love affair with the game of basketball, joins us on the Cowbell Kingdom Podcast to shed some light on the wealthy Filipino business magnate.
An excerpt from the conversation where Bartholomew discussed the All-Star Weekend that featured Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evansthat Pangilinan organized for the Philippines last summer.

That was something that when I first heard they were planning I said it's never going to happen. It just costs too much money, it's too crazy - it sounded like spin to me. And then when it happened, it flipped the script on everyone where it's like "Wow, they really do have the money to pull off a lot more that we thought that they were willing to do." So it made something like buying a team suddenly seem not so crazy and perhaps overpaying for one. Because if you look at the way they sort of justified spending all that money on that NBA All-Star Weekend in the Philippines it was because...literally people were calling M.V.P. a hero because he got Kobe Bryant and got him to play in a real game...That sort of goodwill definitely transfers over to M.V.P.'s brands.

The Sacramento Kings came out red hot in Oklahoma City, pinning a 40 point first quarter on the Thunder. But even after shooting a scorching 82 percent from the field through the first 12 minutes, it wasn’t enough to stop Oklahoma City, who came away with a 118-110 victory.
Kevin Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer, finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in the victory. The Kings did a nice job of limiting Russell Westbrook, who finished with only 13 points, six assists and eight rebounds. Daequan Cook gave the Thunder a nice lift of the bench in James Harden's absence (consussion). Cook scored 19 points on 4-for-7 shooting from long range.
DeMarcus Cousinsmatched Durant’s 32 after nearly missing the game due to suspension. The Kings starting center learned he was eligible to play shortly before the loss after his 13th technical of the season was rescinded. After struggling through a miserable year, Travis Outlaw had a break out game. He scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made four steals. Forward Jason Thompson scored 22 points and Tyreke Evans added 18 as the Kings dropped to 21-44 on the season.
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Founded in 2009, Cowbell Kingdom is a member of the ESPN TrueHoop Network. Its goal is to provide frontline, on-the-ground coverage of the Kings that leads to interesting and thought-provoking discussion amongst readers and viewers.